Drawing the line
by Claude le noctambule
Summary: A criminal and a lawyer meeting each other isn't so unusual... Except when it happens outside the courtroom.


**  
**_The characters of the series Detective Conan belong to Gosho Aoyama. This fan fiction is dedicated to First Silvera, who gave me the idea to write about this pairing... And to Rae, who gave me the urge to write it...And to Dagron who have translated it in English…_

Drawing the line...

Inserting his hand into the various pockets of his tattered raincoat, the pitiful drunk emptied their contents onto the bar counter. Sorting through the mess of objects in front of him with the trembling hand he barely controlled, the middle-aged man let his resigned eyes linger upon the crumpled notes assembled before him...

If he had been a dozen or so yens richer that night, he could have drowned a bit more in alcohol the mountain of worries that gave him ulcers. But the barman never kept a tab for any of his clients, not even the most faithful, he had no reason to linger there any longer... No, really none... Except maybe that he lacked the strength required to stand up and walk down the few streets that led to his home... No strength left to face the acid comments his wife would stab into his heart before slowly twisting the knife in the wound...  
His wife, yes, she must be waiting for him, relishing in advance the pleasure she'd take in taking out on him the years of frustration their marriage had brought the pair of them. It was so much easier to make a poor drunk suffer than to pluck up the courage to divorce and try to make one's own living. So much easier to drown one's regrets in the poison that only made them worse instead of having the strength to never return to the home that had become a true hell. A hell where ruled a queen he no longer understood how he could have wished to be her groom at one point in his life.

A queen who looked like that woman watched his despair while sitting barely a meter away from him. A woman who could have made him forget his ruined life much more efficiently than any alcoholic drink in the world. But a woman who remained much more inaccessible to him than his wife had been before being replaced by the acid guardian of his prison.

Her impeccable hair and her suit both way beyond the reach of his salary were testimony enough that she was unlikely to wish for comfort or at least comfort from a detritus such as he... Therefore the unhappy man decided to retreat before the icy and stony glare of the thirty year old... A glare much more frightening than that of his wife, and he hadn't believed that possible, even in his worse nightmares.

Eri Kisaki paid no more attention to her comrade in misfortune who could barely keep himself straight as he tittered towards the bar's exit. She wouldn't have paid him any heed had he not reminded her of her own husband, back in the days where she came to haul him back to the home he neglected in favour of spending his salary in grubby establishments such as this one. Why was she there any way? She was no longer obliged to remind her husband of his place, in any way... No, she no longer had a husband, despite being neither a widow nor a divorcee... And that was exactly why she had come here...

Pitiful, she, the Queen of the Courtroom, reduced to trying to forget the absence of a husband she had trouble bearing the presence of. On the other hand, all she'd done all evening was to stare at her glass without bringing it to her lips. She'd come to drown herself in decadence and hide from her eyes the disaster of her marriage and yet she remained too proud to do so, it was pitiful. Just as pitiful as her lack of regret concerning her separation from her drunkard husband yet pangs of desire to return to the home she'd slammed the door on so many years ago.

Why wasn't she stronger? Strong enough to break away once and for all the bridges to her past. And why wasn't she weaker? Weak enough to put her pride aside and offer her husband an end to their separation. Why did she have to remain this woman neither strong nor weak? And why did her husband continue to be this man that was neither responsible nor irresponsible?

At times he would become all over again the man she'd fallen in love with... Only the better to turn once again into the womanising drunk she had left... They'd changed, the both of them... And yet at the same time, they continued to be the same as ever... Time went on... And yet it stayed still... Just like this glass she'd started to lift and which now remained frozen inches from her lips. She could either put it down or down it, but why couldn't she make up her mind?

These where the thoughts one could read in her eyes. The eyes staring at the glass in which memories of a wedded life that had brought her both happiness and the most wonderful of daughters. But also memories of the slow downfall of that marriage. It was impossible to separate the ingredients of this mix both as soft and sweet as bitter. No, one could not separate the Gin from the Vermouth in this glass recipient she held in her fingers. No more than she could separate her husband's qualities from his faults.

Putting the glass of Martini down, the lawyer sighed before letting her eyes wander towards her new neighbour at the bar counter. A man who's coat as black as his felt hat seemed to fade into the darkness, a man who's long blond hair seemed to absorb the distilled light to take on a silver hue, a man who's gaze was identical to hers. It was the same mix of pride and disgust one could read in the metallic gaze fixed upon his glass of sherry, of which he swirled the contents without showing any wish to drink it. Disgust the Queen of the courtroom knew better then anyone. Disgust at oneself and one's own weakness. And most of all regret for the errors one's weakness had brought on and that could never be completely undone...

"If you don't want to see her face reflect on the surface of your drink, you might as well drink it..."

The stranger turned towards her an icy glare she faced without a blink.  
"You said?"

"Usually, when one comes to this kind of place, it's to try and forget something... Or someone... Even for just a moment... But then of course, one needs the courage to wish to forget, for as long as hours even."

Turning his eyes back towards his glass, the man remained silent. And for the lawyer, this silence was more eloquent than any confession she'd pried from a witness in court.

"It's pitiful... Not to have the strength to remove oneself from one's downfall... Nor the weakness to let oneself be drawn in further... Truly, there is nothing more pitiful..."

"From a poor idiot woman, who's husband has forgotten, and who's trying to drown her frustration in drink, that kind of lecture is most unwelcome."

Eri pushed back a strand of her light hair with a superior smile, making her wedding ring glint in the light in the same swing.  
"There are exceptions. Some people don't come here to forget their mistakes but to rejoice in their successes."

The superior smile of the detective's wife was mirrored on the face facing hers.  
"Had you really wanted to celebrate some victory, you wouldn't be alone, or in this puny bar way below your means. Look at the truth without fear, my pretty... Since you're not brave enough to return to your own home."

A flash of anger came aflame in the lawyer's eyes before they slid back into an amused yet cynical expression.  
"For your information, sweetheart, I left our home without an ounce of regret more than ten years ago. I don't plan on crossing that door again in any hurry, and my husband does not expect me to..."

"But you would rather he did, or am I wrong?"

The lawyer's hand wavered slightly as she lifted her glass once more. She was the one used to seeing the lies and unsaid truths without effort. She did not like having the roles switched.

"And what about you? Why don't you have the courage to stand up and go find the one you were too chicken to wed? Unless it is evident for both you and her that you are the last person capable of keeping her?"

The wasn't a trace of the mark on the man's finger of any wedding ring he could have forcibly removed...

"Really, do I look like the kind of fool who'd let a woman tie a noose around his neck?"

"To me you look more like the kind of fool who's saddened that a certain someone hasn't done so already... That said, rest assured, one day someone will tie a noose around your neck, but it would be a much less metaphorical one. The death penalty is still practiced in this country, I remind you... And that is by hanging."

To Eri's great joy, it was her companion's turn to be shaken by her words...

"What makes you believe I'd end my life as a hanged man, my pretty?"

"I've met many more criminals than necessary to recognize one from a glance, my dear."

The stranger's eyes widened into a wary expression, as he gently lowered his hand to the pocket of his trench coat.

"Police detective?"

"No, sweetheart. A Lawyer. And you can leave your gun in that pocket. Otherwise you may well need the services of one of my colleagues in a near future... And I can guaranty you they'd be much less competent than I am."

Not letting himself waver in front of the provocation of the one who'd just revealed to him her profession, the assassin pulled a cigarette back out from the depths of his black coat...

"Allow me to say you are too boastful. Any lawyer worthy of their title would not have confused a cigarette pack with a firearm."

"I was talking about the one you keep in your other pocket. The one you put your hand in while trying to distract me with the right..."

Intrigued by such intelligence and calm from the one who'd called his game, the murderer brought up to his lips his left hand before using the silver lighter it held... The lighter that had been merely millimetres from his gun seconds before...

"May I have the honour of knowing your name?"

"To what purpose? Unless you are considering calling upon my services?"

As she talked, the lawyer pulled out her professional card from her purse before sliding it along the counter top towards her potential client.

"I usually don't bother remembering the face or name of the rats that I execute... But from time to time, I make an exception... When said rat is worthy..."

The assassin blew a cloud of smoke at the card he held at eye level, allowing his smirk to fade as he turned to face his potential target with a closed expression.

"Kisaki Eri. What's a Queen doing in this rat hole?"

"If you wish for the queen to answer your query, you should at least give her some gift to grant you her favour... Be it just a name... I already have a vague idea of your profession."

The murderer stayed quiet until a name came across his lips, stretched in a sarcastic grin.

"Kurosawa Jin..."

"Is that your real name... Jin?"

"I assure you so... Eri..."

After all, this alias had the same consonance as his codename. And his chosen family name was a tilt of the hat to the organisation that employed him. Who said an assassin couldn't have a sense of humour?

"Well, Jin... You should know it is my role to ask the questions, not give answers. Questions most witnesses and clients never like to answer. And I take great care to always check out in detail my potential client's file before accepting their case..."

The assassin's smile broadened so as to have nothing to envy from the lawyer's.

"I suppose I should be flattered you see me as a potential client..."

"I don't usually choose my clients."

"Who do you want to kid? From what I see, you have more than enough to afford yourself the luxury of only defending criminals whose cases interest you..."

Gin proved his point by letting his eyes roam over the expensive suit the lawyer was wearing... And the beautiful curves it covered...

"I guess I should be glad you're not one of my colleagues, you'd make a terrific opponent. Although... It isn't unpleasant to have a worthy rival to face off with."

"On that last point I totally agree... Therefore I think I may allow you to fire away your questions at me, my pretty."

Eri tilted her head to one side as she glanced at him in a way that looked like anything but a professional gauging a potential client.

"First of all, tell me, Jin, what are the reasons that bring you here?"

"If you already know the answer, why ask... Eri?"

"I must take into account all aspects of a case before choosing the angle of attack around which I'll base my defensive stance."

A swirl of smoke escaped from the assassin's mouth... To linger above the counter... He hadn't been able to fall to the temptation of blowing it at the smirking face before him...

"You should reconsider your career choice, my pretty. You'd have been better suited to the procurer's chair than the lawyer's..."

"A lawyer can be as harsh as the procurer when it comes to interrogating a witness... And all those who've had to face me in trial would advise you to answer without delay the questions you are being asked by the person you now face."

The brightness of her eye was enough to show the killer that she wasn't boasting, but merely stating a fact.

"Let's say I have some criminal to take care of... A criminal who stubbornly keeps herself away from the grip of justice... And mine... I don't need to tell you how frustrating it can be when one is unable to catch the prey one knows to be at arm's reach... While it stays beyond one's reach..."

"Indeed... It's a frustration I know very well..."

"So you have faced a bitter defeat in court? This surprises me on your part."

"You are mistaken, sweetheart. My career is still unstained by any defeat... Unlike my private life..."

For a short instant, the killer was allowed to see the one hiding behind the cold mask that had charmed him with it's beauty. And far from putting out the fire that had started to eat away at him, the vision only fuelled it more.

"But unlike you, I've always managed to keep a strong boundary between my private life and my job..."

"What makes you think that's not my case?"

"I've seen colleagues of mine face the bitter taste of failure... The didn't have your look..."

That look that was identical to her own.

"And what does that tell you?"

"That the one who keeps herself beyond your reach is more than a target your superiors gave you..."

Gin started.

"How did you know?"

"That you were part of a criminal organisation? I told you before, I been around an unbelievable amount of criminals. You're not of the kind who kills for pleasure. However, I can see at a glance that you've been doing this job for many years. You're too cold to kill for a vengeance or hatred... Therefore I can say you've only killed people for whom you felt nothing... People whom someone else asked you to kill..."

"I could be merely a hired assassin, my pretty..."

"You are someone who's more used to being obeyed, not obeying, otherwise you wouldn't take so much pleasure in being confronted with someone who flips over the roles... You are part of a hierarchy. Does that answer your question?"

The glint of interest in the emerald-green eyes of the assassin gained in intensity. Truly, this woman deserved her title of queen... So who could have been insolent enough to neglect her to the point where she abandoned him... And yet still felt regret whatever it was she said? It was the first time a potential prey intrigued him enough for him to want to find out more...

"Not really... What I wanted to know was what made you think I mixed business with pleasure in my assignment."

"That's not hard. Anyone can guess what's hiding behind the face they see... When it's their reflection in the mirror..."

Gin sniffed as he put down his glass. He'd found a better substitute to cure his obsession. A much better substitute...

"I see. Well, let me tell you, you'd be the first person I'd call, if ever I needed a lawyer... Not like that would ever happen though..."  
"_...And I'd nearly think that a pity..._"

"Don't be so sure. When it comes to someone one loves, however good one's skills, they are never good enough... "

"A killer in love with his victim... I'd never have believed you were the kind of woman who liked such sappy romance stories..."

Eri's smile turned melancholic...  
"Who would have believed it, indeed. I sometimes believe even a Queen can find happiness with a worm unworthy of kissing her shoes... Or I used to at a time, in any case..."

"You still do..."

"Is it so obvious?"

The assassin took a taste of his Sherry.  
"You said it earlier, didn't you? Any fool can understand the emotions of his near twin in appearance..."

The two sorrowful souls dipped into silence following these words. They stayed quiet for long minutes, chewing on their regrets before deciding to rid their mouths of the disagreeable taste by washing it with the contents of their own glass.

"Tell me. Your ex-husband..."

"He's still my husband. We are only separated... It's the only divorce case I've shied away from ever..."

"Not worthy of your presence at his side yet too precious in your eyes for you to leave behind once and for all... What kind of man can do that to a woman such as you?"

There was as much mockery as melancholy in the queen of the courtroom's smile.

"If you want me to speak of him, you're going to have to tell me about her... Sorry, but lawyers don't have a habit of making concessions to their adversaries. A service lent for a service given."

Gin sniffed without turning away his eyes from those that seemed to analyse his soul before absorbing it entirely. There'd only been one person till now who had been able to make him feel such a cocktail of attraction and repulsion... Fascination and frustration...

"You are a lot like her. In fact, the only differences I perceive between you are in your physiques... Neither of which are unpleasant..."

"I see. And this woman... You met her at least once again... After your... Separation?"

The killer nodded, putting down his now empty glass. An empty glass he felt no urge to refill this time... At least not with Sherry...

"And she managed to escape... Or was it you who was unable to kill her?"

Gin made the effort to ponder on the question.

"A little bit of both, I imagine... I shot her half a dozen times... Without killing her... And for once that was my intention... At the moment when I decided to finish her off however... Someone came to help her get away..."

How could she keep her face so neutral in front of what he was speaking about? And how could he have had the weakness to talk about the only failure of his life? On the other hand... He had never found anyone who made him feel the urge to talk about it... A person who'd be able to understand... And who knows? Maybe even solve his problem...

"And the reason you decided to needlessly lengthen her agony... Is it to make her pay for your separation? Because you took a sadistic pleasure in putting her down before it came? Or maybe... Because you didn't want the time to come where you'd have to draw a line on your past? Once and for all..."

The murderer remained silent before tiredly crushing his cigarette.

"The answer to your question... Is probably similar to that of the question I asked you..."

"In that case, no need for me to answer it, is there?"

The two soul mates stayed quiet as each one searched in the others gaze the answer to the question they asked... About themselves... Neither found it, nor did they find the shadow of the face that had marked the other's eyes. No, instead they found... Something else... Something more fascinating than the answer to the question they obsessed over... And Gin had never been the kind to only contemplate what excited his need...

The distance between him and his future victim had shrunk during their conversation. He found no difficulty in reducing it to nil within a flash... Since Sherry, at least the one he put in his glass, was unable to drench his thirst, he might as well try and do so by putting his lips against the ones that were still moist with martini... After all, it wasn't the first time he used that cocktail when his glass of Sherry remained desperately empty...

The assassin's manoeuvre was so unexpected the lawyer didn't even think of showing him that her stupid husband had given her more than a daughter and regrets. Her husband... Gently, Eri closed her eyes, imagining herself seventeen years back... With that idiot who'd always tried to impress her by acting tough... The fool who had one day been brave enough to kiss her... And didn't get a slap as reward... The git who once had as stony and determined a gaze as the one she had had to face before the man who now replaced her absent husband closed his eyes...

Gin himself was agreeably surprised to realise that the lawyer didn't seem to disapprove of the idea of interrogating her suspect in such an intimate manner... And he noted with delight that she really wasn't boasting when she said she was able to make the most stubborn of witnesses answer her every demand...

It was the same pride he could taste on the tip of the tongue running along his own, a tongue flavoured with the same acid comments that made his blood boil, when they came from the lips as soft as those he felt against his own... Behind that cold and unbreakable façade she put on, a front worthy of being compared to his own personality, the killer found a much more vulnerable... And tender... Side. Yes, this cocktail he was drinking was a soft as it was bitter... And the two flavours complemented each other in the most harmonious way. However... It wasn't the taste he was after. It wasn't despair he felt from this woman but nostalgia, instead of fear he found regrets. She could bend him to her whim in a flash, but not in the same way as his lost lamb...

No, a queen couldn't replace a traitor... Nor could a murderer replace a policeman... Or a detective... Eri could feel in her companion a will of steel as strong as her husband's, a wish not to comply to her own wishes as fervent as her groom's, but she couldn't find there the same tenderness... No, not at all... Even if the passion that fuelled the assassin seemed to make him capable of scarifying his life, it wouldn't be for the same reasons as Kogoro... No, he wouldn't throw away his life to save a loved one but to rip away his revenge, or the favour of the one he desired...

As slowly the differences began to outweigh the similarities in their consciousness, the fire that had burnt away at the two souls began to fade in strength until it burnt out completely... And when their faces distanced themselves one from the other, it was the same mix of disappointment and frustration that could be read there...

Nothing was said, both of them seeing clearly that they had not brought the other what they wished for... And neither knew whether that was something to rejoice in or regret...

The silence remained as both lawyer and killer looked disappointedly at their two empty glasses. And it stayed till a voice void of its usual arrogance disturbed it.

"Usually... I never leave a witness alive behind me..."

"But none of your targets are supposed to escape you... Yet it happened..."

"True. But tonight, I nearly wish it wasn't the norm..."

An amused smirk graced the queen of the courtroom's lips.

"So I am not worthy enough in your eyes to have my agony prolonged until someone comes to rescue me?"

"You're not like her... Not enough to replace her... You're... Different..."

"I see. But allow me to remind you I am not in the habit of breaking the law, but defending it. And if I do end up defending an assassin, I cannot close my eyes on his crimes. Be it in or out of the courtroom... But just this night, I nearly feel the whimsical urge to make an exception..."

Gin returned the lawyer's grin.

"I am not a worthy enough client for you?"

"I wouldn't dislike you as a client. But you see, I will allow no one to stain my career... And only one is allowed to stain my private life... And that person will never be you..."

"I see... Anyway, neither you nor me like to mix work and feelings... So I guess it's better neither of us becomes the other's client..."

Eri sighed.  
"Yes, it's for the best..."

The killer left his seat. But after a couple of strides, he couldn't resist the temptation of looking back one last time at the lawyer.

Eri Kisaki had face many criminals before, but never like this, she had to admit... And it would be better if she never met this one again... Any way, she'd been stupid enough to let him put a few meters between them, and at such a distance, she couldn't give her potential client the pleasure of using on him the judo technique her husband taught her... To get closer? Too risky at present, not only because the man's left hand was back in his coat's left pocket...

"Tell me one thing. The one you came here to forget... If you meet her again... That day... Will you decide to draw a line on the past... Forever?"

"What about you? Will you ever decide to close once and for all the door of the home you left? Be you inside with your husband... Or out?"

The two wounded souls shared one last silence and one same smile... A smile more resigned than mocking...  
And they continued to share the same doubts as they parted... Even as the physical distance between the two grew more and more as the assassin's black Porsche left the bar behind, their hearts were as close as ever.

It was the same feelings that gripped them... Loneliness and regret at being separated from the one person who could make it go away... And maybe also from the one person who could have replaced them...

Perhaps...

--:--

_Author's notes:  
.."What's a Queen doing in this rat hole?" Ran's mother's maiden and professional name, Kisaki, literally means Queen in Japanese._

_..Jin Kurosawa: If your remember the Bikuni island mermaid case, Shiho Miyano's name was written in the temple's register... Beside that name are two others... A fan has translated the Kanji, and Saburo Uodzuka is apparently Vodka's name... Gosho Aoyama is rumoured to have said in an interview that Gin's was Jin Kurosawa... If these are aliases, Gin isn't void of second-degree humour... If these are their real names, their superior didn't look far for their codenames (and Gosho didn't look far for their real names either...)  
__Note that Kuro means black in Japanese._


End file.
